


Not Entirely Horrible

by angel_fromthe_darkside



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Normal Life, klancepositivitymonth2017, week one - firsts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-08 00:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_fromthe_darkside/pseuds/angel_fromthe_darkside
Summary: Keith has a problem. It's been months since he realized that maybe - just maybe - hanging out with Lance wasn't as unbearable as he had previously thought. But it's not like he would ever TELL him that.Lance had a plan. Keyword: HAD. He had a whole romantic set up all ready to go - what he would say, what he would wear, where and how he would stand when the clock stroke midnight. It was going to be perfect. But... things did not go according to said plan. Though, that doesn't mean the mission was a total failure...





	Not Entirely Horrible

Maybe Keith was reading too much into this, but it was hard not to notice the difference. Before, he and Lance were at each other's throats. At least, Lance was. Most of the time, Keith just wanted Lance to leave him alone. Maybe be _quiet_ for once in his life. But of course, he was too stubborn, and Keith found that Lance knew just how to push his buttons and make him lose his cool. For the longest time, they were constantly fighting - mostly over things that they really didn't need to fight about, but they did anyway.

Although possibly, that's when it started for Keith.

Often times, his mind would start to wander, despite his efforts to focus on _anything_ else. It would automatically flick to Lance -over and over. He would think about how, among other things, he was painfully smug, cocky, and ridiculously egotistical. And then there was  Lance's flirting. He hits on basically every fucking alien they come across, and it's... annoying. Almost everything about the guy was annoying (it's like he _tries_ to be). But, there was also that voice in the back of his head asking that if Keith couldn't stand the guy, why were they always so close to each other? It was almost involuntary, how they always ended up shoulder to shoulder. At first, Keith hadn't really paid it any mind. But now, he was definitely aware of every aspect of Lance when he was so close. But he doesn't say anything. He can't let Lance think that he thinks it's a big deal.

Which it wasn't. _Isn't._ H e didn't think that - he _doesn't-_

Well, that brings us to now, when Keith is beginning to think that _maybe_ it is. A few months ago, Lance's gaze would somehow find Keith and instantly turn into a competitive glare - which Keith would return with one of his own. Now, Lance sends him small smiles and a thumbs-up after training or tells him he did well after a battle. What made him change his attitude? Weren't they supposed to be rivals? Rivals didn't stand that close to each other. Rivals didn't send the other fleeting glances and soft smiles. Rivals sure as heck weren't supposed to work that well together. So what does that make them?

And, realizing all of this, Keith has also come to the conclusion that he has a huge problem.

Because no matter how much work it would take to get him to admit it, there's this weird warm feeling in his chest whenever he looks over at Lance and finds his deep blue eyes already watching him. Normally, those eyes take on a mischievous twinkle, a smug smirk tugs on his lips, and he'd lean forward and send a teasing glare from across the room, refusing to look away first. Keith, being just as competitive, would do the same, and they would find themselves in a heated staring contest - the result being stinging eyes and no idea what Allura had just told them to do. But there was the rare occasion when Lance would blush - freaking _blush_ \- when Keith noticed Lance's eyes on him, and he'd quickly turn away.

Keith wasn't an idiot. He may not have had much experience dating and all that, but he knew what it meant when someone blushed after getting caught staring.

And what does Keith do about it? Absolutely nothing. It's not like he would know what to do anyway. Again, not much experience in dating. So, he does the logical thing - even if it physically pains him - and asks for help.

"Oh... uh, wow," was Shiro's hesitant response. He rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing what to say. "Well... that's great news, Keith."

Keith raised a brow. "What news?" He deadpanned. "All I did was ask how to stop... this. Whatever it is."

Allura - who was standing nearby, testing some of the castle defenses after their last battle with a fleet of Galra ships - perked up at that and jumped into the conversation as. "Wha- you shouldn't want to stop it! _Keith,"_  Her voice had a sort of exasperated whine to it, but also somehow remained steady. "I can't tell you what to feel. So, you need to think long and hard about how you feel about him, and once you're sure of yourself, you need to do whatever feels right and make those feelings clear."

Shiro nodded. "Allura's right, Keith. We can't give you an order to follow on this one."

Keith through his head and groaned, "Why _not?"_

Shiro only chuckled and patted his shoulder as he got to his feet and went to help Allura. "Good luck, bud."

~

"A crush, huh?" Coran said, sounding distracted as he re-wired the circuitry in the air lock. It had shorted out multiple times since the program holding King Alfor's memories had taken over the castle and trapped Lance in there. Keith found himself reliving that day in his mind while Coran prattled on about his relationships back on Altea. Keith recalled how, after glitching and trying to kill him, the training bot had just happened to chase Keith down this hallway moments before Lance was sucked out into space. He thought about how helpless Lance was for once, how his life was resting in Keith's hands - and his alone - for those short seconds. It was an odd feeling. But, admittedly, wasn't all that bad.

As Keith snapped back to reality, he sighed and shifted his weight onto one foot as Coran continued his speech. Realizing that he was far from finished and wasn’t going to get to a point anytime soon, Keith glanced behind him at the door to the airlock, then slowly backed toward it.

Coran didn’t realize that Keith had taken off down the hallway until he glanced up and saw that he was no longer standing there, realizing that he had been talking to a wall for five minutes straight. He shook his head, returning his attention to the circuit panel, smiling fondly. “Teenagers. I remember when I was that stealth-like. I was practically a ninja!” Getting overly excited, he karate-chopped the panel with a “Hiya!” The lights in the airlock flickered out, leaving him in the dark. “Ah, quiznack.”

~

Keith peeked his head around the doorway to the living room and found Pidge and Hunk inside. “Um, guys? I, uh… I need to talk to you.”

Pidge looked up from the computer on her lap, then shifted in her seat on the couch to face Keith as he came forward and sat on the floor. Hunk did the same. “What’s up,” Pidge asked.

“Yeah,” Hunk said, looking happy for something to do. He seemed to be having trouble getting an adequate conversation out of Pidge while she was doing whatever she does on that computer all day. “What’d ya need?”

Keith hesitantly stammered out his problem. He felt so much more awkward talking about this with these two since they were around his own age. Talking with the adults had been different. And talking to Coran was always “different,” no matter what the topic was.

As soon as Keith had finished, clearing his throat and waiting anxiously for their reactions, Hunk’s face split into the widest, goofiest smile Keith had ever seen. He put his hands to his cheeks and gushed, “Awww! Keith has a crush on his rival! That’s so cute!”

“It’s not a crush,” Keith protested. “Well, I mean - ugh, I don’t know what it is, okay? Just tell me what to do.”

Pidge leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Well, we can’t really give you a definite answer with something like this, Keith.”

He sighed. “You sound just like Shiro and Allura.”

Pidge tapped the rim of her glasses and shrugged. “I don’t know too much about this, but the easiest thing is probably to just tell him.” Keith made a face. “No strings attached, no fancy bells and whistles needed. Just walk up and say it. Besides, I honestly don’t think you have anything to be afraid of.”

“And why not?”

“Because,” Hunk cut in, “I’m Lance’s best friend, and I know that he’s not the type to blow you off. If you do come clean and he doesn’t feel the same, he would definitely let you down easy. No worries.”

Keith shook his head. “I don’t want him to let me down easy. It’s embarrassing. And whenever we see each other afterward, he’ll... look at me differently.” Keith took a deep breath as he thought of Lance giving him a look of pity, or talking carefully to him like if he said the wrong thing Keith would shatter into a million pieces. “Plus,” he continued, “things would be really awkward if he rejects me, and it could affect the team.” He shook his head. “No, there’s no way I can tell him.”

“But-” Hunk said.

“Nope.”

“Come on, Keith,” Pidge said. “We just want to help-”

“Help with what?” came Lance’s familiar voice from the doorway. Their conversation immediately quieted as he sat down on the floor next to Keith. “What’re we talking about?” He asked, oblivious to the look Pidge and Hunk exchanged. The two of them looked at Keith, then Lance, and between them about three more times.

“Nothing.” Keith snapped. Lance looked at him, surprised. Keith only rolled his eyes and moved across the room, flopping down on the couch farthest from the three of them and crossing his legs over the other two cushions. He felt all their eyes on him as he pulled out his knife. Purposely getting fingerprints on it so that he had an excuse to clean it off with the bottom of his plain black shirt, he refused to look up and pretended like there was no one else in the room.

“Okay…” Lance dragged out the word, trying to fill the awkward silence. He turned to Pidge. “Did you finish it yet?”

“Finish what?” Hunk asked, jumping on the new conversation.

Pidge reached over the arm of the couch and grabbed a glass coke bottle from where it sat on the floor next to her. “This. Lance asked me to rig it for Spin The Bottle at the New Year’s party next week. It’s finished, but I haven’t tested it yet.”

“Well then, let’s do that now!” Lance said.

Pidge held out a small pendant hanging from a silver chain. “Here, this has a small but powerful -”

“Hey, just like you!” Lance laughed at his own joke, earning a chuckle from Hunk as well, but Pidge looked unamused.

“Are you done?”

Lance nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”

“Okay. So as I was saying, there’s a small magnet in the necklace. The material around it dampens it a little, though.” She moved to sit on the floor as well, leaning against the couch and turning the bottle in her hands. “There’s a medium-strength electromagnet in the bottle that powers a Direct Current electric motor, thus creating a magnetic field and-” She stopped herself. “You’re not following, are you?” Lance shook his head. Pidge sighed.

“Look, there are two switches on the bottle.” She held it up and pointed to them. “One will change the direction of the current, switching the north and south poles. That means that if the bottle was attracted to your necklace, after flipping this switch, it’ll be repelled. The second switch will break the circuit and it’ll be just like a normal bottle. That way, no one will suspect it’s rigged.”

Lance grinned, then lunged forward and hugged her. “Pidge, you’re a genius!”

“I try.”

“Alright,” Hunk said. “Let’s give it a go!”

Keith looked up from his knife and watched as Hunk moved the floor as well, and the three of them sat in a circle. Lance set the bottle down and leaned forward to spin it, then sat back on his heels and waited for it to stop. As Pidge explained, one end of the bottle pointed at Lance. They spun it a few more times and got the same result.

Keith looked back at his knife again, glaring at his reflection and letting his mind roam. He was brought back down to Earth - figuratively speaking, of course - when Hunk spoke up.

“Um… Keith?”

Keith hadn’t realized that the three of them had gone quiet just moments before. He sighed and said, “What is it, Hunk? You should be able to guess I don’t want anything to do with that stupid-” His voice cut off when his eyes landed on the bottle, one end facing Lance, the other pointing in between Pidge and Hunk and right at Keith. “- game…” He finished his sentence weakly as his eyes locked onto Lance’s.

Keith could feel the heat creeping up his neck and resting on the tip of his ears. Only seeing Lance’s own face turn red made him feel any better. Even still, he jumped off the couch and strode toward the door. Without looking back, he muttered something about going to train and left the room.

For the rest of the day, he couldn’t get himself to stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss Lance.

~

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Shiro asked uncertainly. “I mean, we all remember what happened last time we had a party in the castle.” Lance unconsciously rubbed the back of his head, where he still had a scar from hitting after the bomb threw him across the room.

Pidge looked up from the holographic screen she was typing on. “Yes, well we’ve learned from our past mistakes. Well, at least I have. I made this place virtually hack-proof.” She beamed at the screen. “See, I installed hidden cameras both outside and inside the castle. Also, I added a few small defense mechanisms to the castle's command log. We can all monitor the camera footage and activate the defenses using these holograph watches.” She held one up, then tossed one to each of the others.

“Cool! Like in those spy movies!” Lance smiled excitedly when he caught his watch. “Are they communicators, too? Like walkie-talkies but better?” He held the watch up to his mouth. “Sharpshooter to Uptown Hunk, do you read me? Come in Uptown Hunk.”

Pidge scrunched her eyebrows. “Uh, no, they don’t-”

“This is Uptown Hunk, I read you, Sharpshooter. Over.” Hunk said into his own watch.

Lance gave a reply, and they quickly had a ridiculous conversation started. “Guys,” Keith said warningly, his tone telling them to knock it off without him actually having to waste his breath.

“Uh oh,” Lance said, feigning worry. “We’re in for it, guys.” He turned to Keith and pulled his lips back like he had fangs, bending his fingers as if claws were sprouting from his nail beds. “Oh, I’m Keith and I’m getting really mad! Well, there’s only one thing to do. Stand back, I’m _Going Galra_!”

Hunk immediately started humming the _Danny Phantom_ theme song.

Keith crossed his arms. “It doesn’t work like that, and you both know it.”

“Uh huh, like you’re so sure about what I know,” Lance shot back.

“Honestly, I don’t think _you’re_ sure about what you know.”

Lance was about to spit out a comeback when Pidge cut in. “Can I keep going, or no?” Lance, Keith, and Hunk apologized for interrupting. Pidge continued. “Anyway, in addition to the cameras and new defenses, I added the strongest firewall known to man to every branch of the Castle’s network to prevent getting hacked again. It would already be hard to crack with just Earth tech, but with the advancements made by the Alteans, it’s completely indestructible.

Plus, it’ll tell us if someone tries to hack in or rewire the system by sending an alert to our watches, then automatically close and lock the door, trapping the hacker inside. If anyone tries anything funny, we’ll catch them red-handed.” Pidge turned from the screen and smiled proudly. “Well?”

“Amazing Pidge!” Allura said. “Good work!”

Pidge shrugged modestly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “It was nothing, really. Just standard coding and software design.”

Lance whooped. “This party is going to be legendary! Right, Keith?” Lance swung his arm over Keith’s shoulders. He immediately stiffened. Glaring at Lance’s arm, his eyes followed it down to Lance’s hand, which was holding the bottle Pidge rigged. Keith’s hands clenched. Just the thought of Lance making out with a bunch of random aliens was enough to cause Keith’s stomach to churn. 

“You know, I’m not feeling well.” He muttered, not looking at anyone. “I think I’ll go lay down before the party.” He passive-aggressively pushed Lance’s arm off him before storming out of the room.

~

Lance had been debating whether or not to go after Keith for a few hours. He knew that if he were even going to, he probably already missed his shot, but that didn’t keep him from thinking about it nonstop. Keith’s voice ran through his head over and over. “I’m not feeling well. I think I’ll go lay down…” His entire demeanor had changed within a tick.

And it was after Lance put his arm around him.

That fact was what was really stuck with him - that it was Lance’s fault Keith suddenly shut everyone out. That he was _that_ uncomfortable with Lance. But even knowing this, Lance still decided he needed to find Keith. He asked around the group, but nobody had seen him. Little red flags were starting to rise. It wasn’t like even _Keith_ to disappear for that long. What if he was kidnapped by an intruder? The thought made Lance’s heart pound in fear.

He paced up and down Hunk’s room, who was the most recent person he had asked if he’d seen Keith, and therefore was subjected to Lance’s panicking upon hearing ‘no.’

“Something’s off, Hunk, I swear. He probably got kidnapped. Or maybe there was another bomb. Wait, no - we would have heard if a bomb went off. Maybe-”

 _“Maybe,”_ Hunk interrupted, “he just wanted to be alone for awhile. You saw how ticked off he looked when he disappeared earlier.”

“Yeah, and it’s _my fault._ So, I can’t just leave him like that - I mean, I gotta apologize-”

“For what?”

“I-I… I don’t know! All I know is that I put my arm around him, he stiffened, said something about being sick, then pushes me off him and disappears for the rest of the day. I had to have done _something._ ” He was talking fast and making wild hand gestures as he paced in wide circles. “Maybe it was something I said. It wouldn’t be the first time-”

“Lance,” Hunk said. He was ignored.

“What if _I_ made him sick? What if he thinks I'm repulsive?! But there is the possibility that he _actually_ doesn’t feel well. What, did he catch a cold or something? Because that would really suck, especially since it’s New Year’s and we’re having a party.”

_“Lance.”_

“I mean, he probably already feels like the odd one out. He never freaking _talks._ It’s like he thinks he’s not allowed to. But being sick and in his room alone on New Year’s while everyone else is having a good time without him - God, that would sting.”

“LANCE.”

Lance stopped pacing and looked up at Hunk. “What?”

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “You’re rambling.”

Lance dropped his hands and huffed, flopping onto the bed. “I just don’t know how to act around him anymore. I know that I’ve been off, too. But I can’t stop. Which is why I’m scared. He probably thinks I’m a weirdo. Or an idiot. Probably both.” He threw his hands over his face and groaned into them.

“Lance,” Hunk said calmly, sitting down next to him. “You’re not a weirdo, and you’re not an idiot. This probably doesn’t even have anything to do with you.”

Hunk was lying through his teeth. After what Keith had told him and Pidge earlier, Hunk was almost positive that he was upset over the whole Spin-The-Bottle thing. Lance _had_ been holding it when he put his arm around Keith. But it wasn’t Hunk’s place to tell him that. And if Lance was _that_ oblivious, frankly, that was his problem.

“But what if it _does_ have something to do with me?” Lance argued stubbornly. “What if it has _everything_ to do with me? What then, huh?”

“Then you need to fix it.”

Lance sat up. “That’s what I’ve been saying!”

Hunk shook his head. “Not now, though. Give him some space and let him cool down first.”

Lance raised a brow at him. “He’s had three hours to cool down. I think he’s good.” He went to stand up and leave the room to look for Keith, but Hunk pushed him back down.

“Alright. Let me get this straight. Why _exactly_ are you so worried about him?” Hunk had his suspicions, but he needed Lance to say it.

“Because…” He thought for a moment. “I… I don’t really know. I just don’t want him to be mad at me.”

“And why is that?” Hunk prodded, talking slowly.

"Because... he has a knife collection and knows where I sleep?"

"Try again."

Lance went silent. He stared at the floor for a solid three minutes before his eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “Oh my God…” He muttered. “I… I like Keith!”

Hunk smiled. “Fucking finally.”

~

It was almost an hour after the party had started that Keith finally popped up again. Even though he said he didn’t feel well and that he was going to lay down, he really just needed to stab something. So he went to the training deck for the second time that day.

What can he say? Lance just brings out his violent side.

Keith emerged in the ballroom of the castle and immediately saw Pidge talking with a few aliens. As Keith approached, he could tell they were talking about some sort of software system. Pidge did a double take as he came to stand next to her.

She politely excused herself from the conversation and yanked Keith aside. “Where have you been?!”

“Training deck. Why?” Keith asked, taking a drink from a tray that was floating around the room and downed a few gulps.

“Because Lance has been going _insane_ with worry.” Keith almost did a spit take. He tried to hide it. Pidge noticed and smirked at him, but kept going. “He went around a few hours ago and asked if any of us had seen you. Then, apparently, he went and had a panic attack in Hunk’s room.”

“What?” Keith choked out. “W-Why?”

“He was _worried_ about you.” She repeated. Keith gulped.

Lance was worried about him.

Even when he wasn’t there, that boy did weird things to Keith’s heart.

“You should go find him,” Pidge suggested. “He thinks he did something to upset you.”

And all of a sudden, Keith was back to normal. He crossed his arms, careful not to spill his drink and scowled. “Yeah, well he did. And _you._ Why would you even help him rig Spin the Bottle?” Pidge simply reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. Keith only said, “Oh.”

She sent him a sad look as she pocketed the money again. “Look, I know it must sting, but maybe it doesn’t mean what you think it does. He could still have feelings for you…” She said optimistically.

Keith scoffed. “Yeah, because the best way to show you have feelings for someone is to make out with twenty different people.”

“Alright, it’s not making out. Spin the Bottle only requires a little kiss.”

“I’m sorry, are we still talking about _Lance?”_ Keith said bitterly. “We both know it’s going to turn into making out.”

Pidge huffed. “You know, it’s no fun hanging out with you when you’re always so negative. Try focusing on the good for once. It won’t kill you to be happy and have a little fun.” She waited until Keith reluctantly promised to loosen up before running after a droid she had seen pass by a few minutes before.

 

“Okay, looks like everything is set.” Lance was practically bouncing with excitement. “How do I look?” He tried his best to look casual, but purposely chose clothes that he hoped would catch Keith’s attention. Ripped jeans that showed more skin than they covered, a flannel shirt tied loosely around his waist, and a sleeveless t-shirt that hugged his torso and showed off his arms.

Hunk looked over his outfit, then gave a thumbs-up.

Letting out a nervous breath, Lance rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Alright, so the plan’s all set, right?”

“Affirmative,” Hunk agreed. “Got the note right here.” He held up a folded piece of paper with Lance’s slanted, slightly rushed handwriting scrawled all over the inside.

He nodded approvingly. “Good. You just need to give him that in about…” he checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes. Then all he has to do is read it and follow the instructions - he’ll have to get over his inability to do so, and you can tell him I said that - and then he’ll find me, and I’ll tell him and everything will be good.” Hunk nodded. “Unless…” Lance’s eyes took on a horrified look. “What if he doesn’t like me that way? I mean, judging from what happened earlier, he could hate me! Oh god, what if he hates me?!”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Hunk assured.

“But he could.”

“But he doesn’t.”

Lance crossed his arms. “And how do you know?”

“I just know, okay? Now go get in position. And plan out what you’re gonna say. We all know how things turn out when you wing it.”

Lance gasped, putting a hand to his chest. “Excuse you, I’m _amazing_ at winging it.”

Hunk paused in the doorway. “Yeah… sure. Just uh, _don’t_ wing it this time, okay?”

 

~

 

Hunk ended up with Coran, Pidge, and Allura in the middle of the ballroom, filling them in on Lance’s plan. Shiro and Keith were at the front of the room, going through Pidge’s computer for a new song to play.

“This is just too exciting!” Allura said, smiling widely. “I have to go tell my mice!” She waved and went off to find her furry little friends.

Pidge turned to Hunk. “When do you have to give him the note?”

“In a few minutes, actually,” he replied, checking his watch. “I should go find him.” He turned and quickly made his way to the front of the room. He was just about to call out Keith’s name to give him the paper when he noticed the drink tray out of the corner of his eye. It was short-circuiting. The tray jerked this way and that, almost falling a few times, before gaining a sudden burst of speed and flying right into Hunk. He yelped in surprise and all the drinks spilled on him. “Aw man!” Keith and Shiro both looked up, then hastened over at the sight of him, weaving through the crowd to get to him.

“What happened?” Shiro asked.

“Uh, the drink tray freaked out or something… but that’s not important! Keith, this is for you, from…” He trailed off as he realized he was holding out a piece of soggy paper, the ink words running together and creating unintelligible blobs of black.

Keith looked at the paper, then Hunk’s face, raising a brow. “Uh… thanks?”

“No- the… it… ugh. You know what, forget it. Just - Lance is looking for you.”

Keith nodded. “So I’ve heard. I know he’s bothered about what happened earlier, but I’m fine, really.”

Hunk huffed, exasperated. “No! I mean, yeah, he was looking for you earlier, but he needs to talk to you now. Like, _right now._ ”

Keith’s eyebrows came together as he took a sip of his drink. “Really? What about?”

“I- I can’t tell you. He has to. Just go!” Hunk spun Keith around by the shoulders and gently shoved him forward.

“Alright, alright! Where is he?”

“Just, uh… use the cameras Pidge installed. Go!”

Hunk let out a relieved breath once Keith had left. “Mission accomplished.” He grinned.

“What was that about?” Shiro asked with a perplexed and slightly surprised expression. He was about to answer when Pidge ran up and almost tackled both of them when he failed to slow down all the way before she reached them. “Guys! Where’s Keith?!”

“Guys! Where’s Keith?!”

“Well, uh, Hunk just sent him to find Lance,” Shiro told her. “I’m… not sure why…”

“That’s not significant right now. Look!” She pressed a few buttons on her watch and brought up a holographic image from one of the cameras in the Castle.

In unison, both Shiro and Hunk muttered, “Quiznak.”

~

“Alright…” Lance let out a deep breath. “Just calm down. No big deal. It’s just Keith, just Keith…” Nervously, he tapped his fingers on the wall he was leaning against and glanced up and down the hallway. What was taking so long?

“Hey there.” Lance jumped at the sudden sound. He was about to smile and jump right into the script he had planned when he realized that wasn’t Keith’s voice. Though, he still knew it from somewhere. He stood.

“Nyma?”

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “You remember.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah, you sort of chained me to a tree...” Nyma had taken several steps toward him, and came closer still. “W-What are you doing here?” Lance asked, anxiousyl glancing down the hall to make sure Keith hadn’t gotten there yet.

“I told you we’d see each other again, didn’t I?”

“You said ‘maybe.’”

She grinned, then giggled. It sounded just as fake as it had when she had tricked Lance into showing her around the Castle. “Well, then I guess it’s your lucky day…”

“Nyma, what are you doing here?” He asked skeptically. “The last time you were in this castle, you stole my lion.”

She giggled again. “Oh, let’s just let bygones be bygones and have a little fun while I’m here, huh?” She had backed Lance up against the wall, grinning seductively. Her hands ran up Lance’s chest. “This is what you wanted, right?”

“N-No- I mean, it _was_ , but it’s different now.”

“Different… how?” She asked slowly, but she clearly didn’t have any intention of waiting for an answer. Lance squirmed as she kissed him and tried to push her away, but she grabbed his wrists and pinned them against the wall. He desperately tried to yank his arms free, but her grip didn’t loosen.

She broke the kiss for just a second to breathe, and Lance tried to tell her to get away from him, but he didn’t get a chance before she was attacking his lips again. And again. And again. He was getting dizzy. He needed to get away, before…!

“Lance?” Lance’s heart dropped and leaped simultaneously out of pure horror.

Thankfully, Nyma pulled away to glare at Keith, and Lance got a chance to recuperate. “Do you mind?” Nyma asked icily. Lance glanced up in time to see Keith’s jaw clench, as well as his fists.

“No.” He ground out, before spinning on his heel and heading back the way he came.

Lance shouted, “Keith! No, wait!” but he was disregarded as Keith kept walking. He sent a death glare at Nyma. “Get off!” Her grip on his wrists loosened just slightly, but it was enough for him to break free and shove her back. He would have stayed to yell at her, but he didn’t have time. Instead, he took off down the hallway, sprinting after Keith and calling his name.

“Keith, please, just listen-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Lance.” Keith snapped.

“You don’t understand! I-”

Lance’s voice cut off when Keith suddenly stopped walking and spun around to face him. “Oh, I don’t understand? What don’t I understand, Lance? Enlighten me.”

“I… I didn’t kiss her.” Keith scoffed. “I didn’t! She kissed me! Are you blind? I was trying to get away!”

Keith shook his head. “Wow, Lance. You know, it’s your business if you kissed her, but lying about it-”

“I’m not lying!” Before he could stop himself, he lurched at Keith and grabbed his shoulders, holding his face inches from his own. He took a breath. “I’m not lying. I don’t like her. I didn’t like that kiss. It was… wrong.”

Keith scowled. “What do you mean, wrong?”

“Because she…” He hesitated, biting his lip. “She wasn’t…” He trailed off. Could he do this?

“She wasn’t _what,_ Lance?” Lance bit his lip again. Keith shook his head. “Wow.”

He shrugged off Lance’s hands and turned to leave again, but Lance couldn’t let him walk away. “About earlier,” he blurted without thinking. “With the, uh… when we were testing the bottle… and it pointed to me and you…”

“Why does it matter?” Keith cut in. “I just happened to be sitting across the room from you.”

“I know, but - would… would you want to…”

“Are you kidding me?” Keith yelled, his voice echoing around the hallway. “I find you making out with someone, and now you’re trying to _hit_ on _me?_ Are you _drunk_ or something? Because either that, or you’re out of your mind.”

“I’m… I’m not…”

“Then what, Lance? What do you think you’re doing?”

Growling in frustration, Lance lunged forward again and shoved Keith against the wall. “I’m trying to talk, dammit, so just listen! I already told you that Nyma kissed _me,_ not the other way around! I was waiting there for _you._ Because I was going to tell you that I like you, it was going to be romantic as shit, and you would blush and it would be adorable and everything would be fine for once!” The color had long-since drained from Keith’s face, but Lance kept talking. “We wouldn’t be running from Galra ships or planning to attack Zarkon, we wouldn’t feel the weight of having to protect the _entire universe_. It would just be me, and you, and we would be allowed to be happy - at least for a little while.

“And I wasn’t trying to hit on you just now. I need to know what the heck was going on in your head when you looked at me like that, I want to know what’s going through your head now. You probably hate my guts, and I wouldn’t blame you, but I just need to know. Would it really kill you if we kissed?”

Keith opened his mouth, closed it, and and sighed, banging his head against the wall. “This is a disaster.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed, watching Keith’s eyes open and lock onto his own. “I… I’m sorry.” He was about to pull away, when Keith’s arm snaked around his waist and held him in place, just inches away from being flush against Keith’s body.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Keith whispered, cocking his head and raising a brow. A small smirk played Keith lips and Lance found himself stuttering uncontrollably as he stared at them. Keith chuckled. “And here I thought you were such a flirt.”

Lance cleared his throat, vaguely aware of chanting being carried down the hallways from the ballroom as everyone counted down to midnight.

 _Ten_.

“A-Are you going to answer my question?”

 _Nine_.

Keith grinned mischievously.

 _Eight_.

“Do you want me to?”

 _Seven_.

“Extremely.”

 _Six_.

“Then, no.” _Five_. “It wouldn’t kill me if we kissed.”

 _Four_.

Lance’s heart was thundering.

 _Three_.

“Then…?”

 _Two_.

“I’m not good at this…” Keith murmured, his sudden burst of confidence gone, but he nodded anyway.

 _One_.

And suddenly, neither of them could think. Lance leaned in and captured his lips, smiling slightly against them when he heard Keith’s breath hitch. The cheers from the ballroom as the clock struck midnight slowly filtered in, and the two broke away long enough to laugh, silently agreeing that they would remember the crowd cheering for _them_ instead of the new year.

“What’s your new year’s resolution?” Lance whispered before kissing him lightly again.

“This.” Keith answered quickly. “I want to do this all the time.”

“What a coincidence. Me too.” Lance pressed harder as Keith hooked his finger on Lance’s belt loop and pulled him closer. He was just starting to get the hang of it when they had to stop and catch their breath.

“I… I’ve never… done that before.” Keith admitted, his face getting hotter than it already was. “Was… was that alright?”

Lance hummed thoughtfully, pressing their foreheads together. “I guess you weren’t _completely_ terrible at it, considering it was your first one.”

Keith gaped at him, then yanked on a piece of his hair. Lance yelped. “And you, McClain, are entirely horrible.”

“Aw, you don’t mean that,” he said with a fake pout.

Keith smirked. “Okay, fine. You’re not _entirely_ horrible.”

“That’s not any better.”

“Oh well. That’s all you’re getting.”

“For now.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” They both grinned dopily at each other before leaning in again.

**Author's Note:**

> Craaaaaaaap, I almost missed the deadline on this, haha, sorry  
> Okay, so, happy Klance Positivity Month! This is what I did for week one, to the prompt "Firsts." idk why I thought of New Year's for a first kiss, but it's cheesy and sweet, so I went with it.  
> This was the first Voltron fanfic I've written, so it's kinda iffy, but I hope you liked it! Stick around for next week's one-shot to the prompt, "Reliance"  
> (P.S., Happy Pride month!!! <333)


End file.
